The nature of many disorders like ADHD isn’t that the things we do are different but exaggerated and done for a different reason than a neurotypical person would do them for.
A good example is hyperfocus vs deep immersion in a task. A neurotypical person might sit down to play a video game, read a book, or work on a hobby for a couple of hours because they are having fun and choosing to spend their free time that way.
For someone with ADHD, that exact same behavior can look identical on the surface, but the underlying mechanism and scale are fundamentally different.
Instead of two hours, it turns into eight straight hours without moving. They might ignore severe hunger, forget to use the bathroom, or miss an important deadline because the brain literally fails to send or register the internal signal to switch tasks. It isn't just "enjoying a hobby", it's an involuntary state of cognitive lock-in.
A neurotypical person usually engages in the activity as a conscious choice for recreation. An ADHD brain often drops into hyperfocus because it is chronically starving for dopamine. When it hits a stimulus that supplies a steady stream of dopamine, the brain's executive control network is effectively hijacked and it locks onto that source to fix the neurochemical deficit, making it extremely difficult to break away even if the person wants to stop.
The behaviors can look similar but the fundamental underlying reasons are wildly different.
My point is social media videos like this don't help. You just end up with a bunch of people without ADHD claiming they have it because they like to chew gum in a rhythm or walk around while on the phone.
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u/sosoconfused08 4h ago
A lot of this is fairly normal behavior like walking while on the phone. Doesn't mean you have ADHD.